Fernando Tatis Jr. thought he had just hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning. Cody Bellinger had other ideas.
For a moment, it seemed as if Padres superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. had done it again.
Tatis had previously pulled off home run heroics in San Diego's Wild Card Series win over St. Louis. With two outs in the seventh inning and the Padres trailing by a run, Tatis hit what appeared to be a surefire two-run blast to straightaway center field.
Then Cody Bellinger turned into Superman, and the Dodgers escaped with their lead intact.
Bellinger and the rest of the Dodgers were understandably fired up after the game-saving play. Pitcher Brusdar Graterol flung his hat and glove in excitement, and then appeared to blow a kiss to Padres third baseman Manny Machado. Machado, unsurprisingly, was not too pleased with that.
Graterol's taunt, and Machado's reaction, sparked several other Dodgers to shout at Machado and the Padres dugout. Graterol stayed in the game in the eighth, when he faced Machado to leadoff the inning. The umpire crew warned both managers about any escalation. Graterol retired all three batters in order—including Machado, on a groundout to second base—without incident.